Hassan Blandford and Andrea Long in rehearsal, Amaranthine Road, choreographed by Henning Rübsam Photo: Natalie Piwen Chan

Henning Rübsam’s SENSEDANCE,
Amaranthine Road and other works

City Center Studio, New York City
January 16, 18, and 20, 2008

A Review

This was an informal showing of six ballet works and two modern dance pieces, all but one (to a Brahms work) were accompanied live on piano and guitar, a treat for us, especially since composer Beate Moon played her own works for five of the dances.

As always, Henning’s dancers are inspiringly perfect, gathered from such sources as the New York City Ballet, the Dance Theater of Harlem, the American Ballet Theater, the Hartford City Ballet, the Martha Graham Company, and the Nikolais Dance Theater.

Rübsam’s ballet combinations never seem hackneyed, have a certain motional reason in their construction and, together with the almost perfect execution, are a delight to watch. The two contrastingly modern pieces were well constructed on two startlingly diverse motional premises, and were a pleasure to find tucked into such a good ballet evening.

I like Henning’s work, and I am glad that he has the charisma to attract such a fine caliber of dancers and musicians.

The dancers: Lionel Hassan Blandford, Amanda Cobb, Lloyd Knight, Andrea Long, Christine Reisner, Alice Evelyn Stock and Royce Zackery with Khiara Bridges, and Stephany Vovou.

The composers and musicians: Beata Moon, Linda Marcel, Ron Mazurek, Richardo Llorca, and Tali Roth.

—Ruth Grauert, January 2008